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Hardware store-grade silicone used by unqualified practitioners for buttock and breast implants can dissolve in the body. Despite media reports of deaths and injuries, the incidence of illicit procedures may be rising. "We've been hearing about this," said American Society of Plastic Surgeons President Malcolm Roth. "There are 'pumping parties,' involving high-volume injections to fill up the face, lips, cheekbones, chin or breast. Often it's buttock enhancement and often it's not sterile." The ASPS is reminding patients to check and understand providers' credentials before seeking cosmetic procedures.

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Authorities are seeing an increase in the number of women seeking treatment for complications after illegal silicone buttocks injections. Unlicensed, untrained practitioners have used hardware-grade silicone to enhance the breasts or buttocks of people seeking cheap cosmetic procedures. "Who would imagine someone would let someone else inject them with something from Home Depot? It's insane," said ASPS member Dr. Michele Shermak. Treating those injected with silicone can involve removing surrounding tissue.

Women who had post-mastectomy breast reconstruction using the free MS-TRAM and DIEP flap procedures reported improved psychological, social and sexual well-being in as little as three weeks, according to a study published in Cancer. However, they suffered lingering problems in the abdominal area from which the tissue was transferred. "While the author of this study singles out a specific type of breast reconstruction, it's been my experience overall that all women who have had successful reconstructive surgery experience improved psychological and sexual well-being," plastic surgeon Philip Bonanno said.

A multi-site study will test a device that uses compressed air to expand breast tissue after a mastectomy in order to accommodate implants. The AeroForm device allows the patient to control inflation pressure, which could reduce pain while shortening the time to full expansion. Plastic surgeon V. Leroy Young, founder of BodyAesthetic Research Center in Creve Coeur, Mo., will lead the study.

A study in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery revealed that nipple sparing mastectomy is a safe option for some women with breast cancer. Researchers assessed the outcomes of 169 procedures conducted at Georgetown University Hospital and found no recurrence of cancer and no new cases on average for two and a half years following the surgery. However, researchers warned that not all women are eligible for the procedure.

Plastic surgeons say only rudimentary training would be required for terrorists to fill breast, pectoral or buttock implants with explosives and implant them in suicide bombers. "It's certainly not a stretch to say that where there's a will, there's a way," said ASPS President-Elect Malcolm Roth.